Coote, Ritchie Coote
by TheWeaselette
Summary: Ritchie wants to ask Romilda Vane out. Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke are there to help him, but Romilda likes Harry! What will our poor Ritchie do?


**Coote, Ritchie Coote**

Romilda Vane. Girly, _vain_, but beautiful and brave Romilda Vane. Ritchie knew that she was mean, that she only had eyes for Harry Potter. He was also aware of the fact that she was sneaky and cunning and that she should've gone to Slytherin, but that she was very brave and that was why the Sorting Hat had put her in Gryffindor. Ritchie also knew that he was irrevocably and irrepairably in love with her.

Ritchie looked at the invitation in his hand. _Richard Coote, plus guest_. Plus guest. Stupid Slughorn and his stupid Slug club. What was he supposed to do? He wanted to invite Romilda to the party, as his guest, but he was certain she would refuse. Plus, she was always surrounded by other giggling members of the female species and Ritchie was simply confused. How would he invite her? "_Hey, Romilda, you wanna go to Slughorn's Christmas party with me_?" No, too pathetic. He remembered those James Bond films his father used to show him. Maybe he could charm her... "_Coote, Ritchie Coote. Will you go to the party with me_?" No, he definitely, most certainly wouldn't do that. No, he would forever remain Bitchy Ritchie, that dark and tall fourth year. Even now that he was in the Quidditch team, Romilda still wouldn't like him.

"Oi, Ritch!"

Ritchie was shaken out of his thoughts by the voice of one of his best friends, Jack Sloper. He got up from the chair he was sitting in and went to greet Jack.

"You're not still moping around, are you?" asked Jack. "Give it a rest, Ritchie! Either ask her out, or don't! Make a bloody decision!"

Ritchie smiled at his friend's temperament. Jack was always a bit hot-headed. It was one of the reasons he wasn't so good at Quidditch; he got mad quite easily. Ritchie's other best friend, Andrew Kirke, wasn't very good at Quidditch because he was the complete opposite: calm and relaxed, no matter what.

Ritchie slumped into his armchair.

"What if she says no, Jackie? It would be dreadful!"

Jack patted him on the back.

"Yes, she might say no, but then you'll at least know, right?" he said.

Ritchie couldn't argue with Jack's logic. He really had nothing to lose, did he?

"Come on, mate, Potions with the Ravenclaws," said Jack. "Let's go!"

They walked out of the common room and they headed towards a shortcut to the dungeons. Right in front of the painting that hid the tunnel, they ran into Andrew. Andrew was shorter than both Ritchie and Jack and he had reddish-brown hair. Ritchie sometimes called him 'their small Herbology genius'.

"In a hurry, huh?" Andrew grinned at them. "Come on, old Sluggy will be mad if we're late."

They entered the passage behind the painting and slid down a slide to the dungeons. Jack usually said that this slide was the only thing that made Potions interesting. The boys still had to walk to get to the Potions classroom, but they would have much more had they not taken the shortcut.

"Oi, Drew," started Jack, "did you know Ritchie is still worried about Vane?"

Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Really, Ritchie, you ought to stop worrying and just ask the girl out already!" he said. "She won't wait forever, you know! I'm sure she would like it if you asked her!"

"Yeah, I bet she's saying to her friends, '_Oh, how I wish Bitchy Ritchie would ask me out_!'" Ritchie said in his best Romilda impersonation.

"Richard Gavin Coote, if you don't ask her out, I will!" said Andrew in a dramatic voice.

Ritchie rolled his eyes; he knew Andrew would do no such thing.

"Give it up, Drew," said Jack. "He's obviously too big of a coward to do it."

The boys finally arrived at the classroom and took their usual spots. Soon, Slughorn entered as well and announced they would be brewing a Calming Draught. Ritchie sighed; another boring class.

A few minutes later, his attention was drawn to Romilda, _his_ Romilda, who happened to enter the classroom with one of her giggly friends.

"Sorry we're late Professor, we had to use the bathroom," she announced in a snotty voice.

Ritchie would never understand why girls felt the need to go to the bathroom together. They were going to take a piss, for Merlin's sake! Did they need other girls to help them or something?

Romilda took her usual place in front of Ritchie, while her friend took a seat in front of Jack.

"I don't know what you see in her," whispered Jack. "She's a bitch."

Ritchie shook his head and frowned. Yes, Romilda was mean and bitchy sometimes, but Ritchie knew she was a good person deep underneath it.

Andrew was once again not paying attention to his potion, as he was staring at Dana Collins, a good-looking Ravenclaw.

"You know, Drew, I sometimes think you're actually staring at Winter and not at Dana," said Jack.

Damian Winter was Dana's Potions partner and best friend, a fragile looking young Ravenclaw.

Andrew smirked.

"Well, Jackie, maybe I'm staring at both of them," he said smugly.

Ritchie exchanged a look with Jack and started working on his potion. A few minutes later, his attention was once again captured by Romilda.

"He knows!" she hissed to her friend. "Somehow, he found out!"

Ritchie was confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Romilda turned to him and said, "Harry somehow knew I was trying to give him Amortentia!"

For one fleeting moment, Ritchie didn't care if he was 'The Chosen One' or 'The Boy Who Lived', he just wanted to strangle the bloke. Then, he remembered Harry didn't like Romilda that much, so he decided to go back to quietly admiring him.

Suddenly, a Ravenclaw boy exclaimed, "Harry Potter's taking Luna Lovegood to Slughorn's party!"

"Yeah, apparently, they're going 'just as friends'" added Dana Collins.

Ritchie smiled. Maybe, maybe he could have a chance...

"He's going with _Loony Lovegood_?" shrieked Romilda.

Slughorn heard her and decided to check what the commotion was.

"Ritchie, m'boy, how are you today?" he asked in his booming voice.

"Fine, sir, I hope you're all right as well," Ritchie replied.

Slughorn laughed.

"Yes, all is well, all is well. I hope to see you tonight."

He passed by Jack and Andrew, while saying, "Good morning to you too, John, Austin."

Jack looked so angry, Ritchie was surprised steam wasn't coming from his ears. Andrew simply seemed confused.

"Do I really look like an Austin?" he asked, but Ritchie wasn't listening.

Slughorn had just approached Romilda's cauldron and peered inside.

"Your father was one of my favourites, he was," said Slughorn. "Maybe he could teach you something."

He walked away to inspect other cauldrons. For the first time, Ritchie really hated how Slughorn had favourites. Finally, the bell rang and everyone packed their bags. Ritchie told Jack and Andrew to go without him when he heard Romilda say the same thing to her friends.

When they were alone, Ritchie suddenly felt awkward. Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea. He heard Romilda let out a dry sob, so he hurried to her side.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, watching a single tear roll down her cheek.

"Everything's wrong!" she said in a shaky voice. "I'm bad at Potions, Harry Potter doesn't like me, and I might fail Herbology!"

Ritchie patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I'll help you with your Potions and Drew could help you with Herbology!"

Romilda wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"Thanks, Ritchie... But what am I supposed to do about Harry?" she asked.

"Well, I could help you make him jealous by taking you to Slughorn's party," he said carefully.

Romilda smiled and asked, "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course!" Ritchie grinned. "So, when do I pick you up?"

Maybe, just maybe, there was hope after all.


End file.
